St. Louis, Mo. – Tonight the third ranked Columbia College men's basketball team was back in action when they traveled to St. Louis, Missouri, to take on Harris-Stowe State (Mo.) University in an AMC matchup. The Cougars were unable to extend their winning streak tonight as they were defeated by the Hornets by a final score of 88-83. With the loss, the Cougars drop to 20-2 on the season and 13-1 in conference play.

Columbia College got off to a quick start on both ends of the floor as they forced the Hornets to turn the ball over three times in the first four minutes of the game and jumped out to an early 12-2 lead. However, the Hornets bounced back quickly and were able to respond to the Cougars run with a 14-4 run of their own to tie the game at 16. The score remained tight as the half progressed but a last second buzzer beating layup by the Hornets at the end of the half gave Harris-Stowe a 39-37 lead at the halftime break. The Cougars were led by Nic Reynolds who had 14 points in the half.

The score remained close for the first few minutes of the second half but with the score tied at 43 the Hornets were able to go on a 17-6 run to take an 11 point lead midway through the period. Despite being down, the Cougars battled back and were able to work the ball down low over the next few minutes to get back into the contest. Both sides exchanged points down the final stretch of the game but ultimately the Hornets would edge out the Cougars and hand them their first loss since November 17^th.

Columbia College had four players finish in double figures including Nic Reynolds who had a game high 18 points. In addition to Reynolds, Nathan Biggs finished with 14 points, Travis Vogt had 11 points, and Malik Ray added 10 points to round out the top performers for the Cougars

Columbia College is back in action on Saturday, January 28^th when they travel to St. Louis, Missouri, to take on St. Louis College of Pharmacy (Mo.) in an AMC contest. The Cougars were led by Preston Whitfield in their last matchup against the Eutectics where he finished with 24 points in a 126-51 win. The game is set to tip-off at 4 p.m.